CIC has warmly congratulated its Chair Dr Wei Yang on being awarded the OBE in the New Year Honours’ List for her services to the town planning industry.
Wei, an internationally renowned town planner and urban designer, is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Digital Task Force for Planning, an innovation-led social enterprise, as well as being Chair of CIC.
Wei Yang & Partners, an award-winning master planning firm in London. Wei has been Chair of CIC since 2023 and was previously President of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), in 2021. Wei was appointed to the UK Government’s New Towns Taskforce in September 2024.
Wei has extensive experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams and implementing large-scale regeneration and low carbon master planning projects in Britain and internationally and is a lead figure in researching, promoting, and implementing 21st Century Garden City and green & low-carbon development approaches worldwide. She co-authored a bestselling book, Humanistic Pure Land and Garden Cities (Shi & Yang, 2021) and is also co-author of A Digital Future for Planning – Spatial Planning Reimagined (Batty & Yang, 2022) which outlines a blueprint for digital transformation of spatial planning and the sector’s future.
Wei is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, a Fellow of the RTPI, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Highway and Transportation (CHIT), and an Honorary Professor at University College London.
Wei also holds a number of board-level and advisory roles across different sectors. She is a board member of the British Library and Chair of its Capital Portfolio Committee. Internationally, she serves as Global Planner Networks (GPN) representative at the UN Habitat Professional Forum. She was Professionals Co-Chair of the UN Habitat World Urban Campaign Steering Committee from 2022 to 2024.
CIC Chief Executive Graham Watts OBE congratulated Wei saying, “This prestigious recognition is a testament to Wei’s outstanding contributions to sustainable planning and her tireless commitment to shaping a better future for society. I would like to offer sincere congratulations on behalf of everyone at CIC.”
In her own words, Dr Yang expressed her gratitude: “It is a great privilege to be honoured with an OBE as a planner. The planning profession plays a vital role in shaping the sustainable future of our communities. I cannot think of any profession that suits me better.
“A heartfelt thank you to my family, friends, and colleagues who have supported me throughout the years. I look forward to continuing our journey of modernising the planning profession in the digital era for the public good.”
CIC would also like to extend their congratulations to Amos Simbo, Founder of Black Professionals in Construction Network (BPIC); who has also been awarded an OBE for his services to construction. BPIC, a member of CIC, is an inclusion hub that aims to create a diverse built environment and enhance industry representation. Amos has been involved with CIC as a 2050 Group member and more recently BPIC became a founding member of Diversitas, an organisation set up by CIC to increase Black professionals representation in the built environment.
